Dolphins believe Davis was drunk night before practice

Yes, Vontae Davis was late to practice, as reported by me in an earlier post. Yes, he got into an ugly argument with receiver Brandon Marshall,, as reported by NFL.com. And yes, the argument between Davis and Marshall started when Marshall called out Davis and then threw the ball at his head, as reported by Fox-TV.

But the reason most responsible and most alarming about Davis missing Sunday's game against the Chiefs is that the Dolphins believe Davis was drunk the night before the Saturday practice to which he was late. And when he showed up at the Miami facility, a source said Davis had the smell of alcohol and was suffering from an apparent hangover.

Davis and several other teammates had apparently been out late Friday. Davis was the only one late.

The Dolphins declined to address any reason why Davis was not on this trip to Kansas City, which was a successful one in that Miami captured its first victory of the season, a 31-3 upset of the homestanding Chiefs. Repeated calls by The Miami Herald to agent Todd France, who represents Davis, have not been returned.

"I’m not going to get into any of that," coach Tony Sparano said. "You guys know that. Vontae is obviously not here. What goes on in those locker room doors will stay between me and Vontae.”

Marshall, who caught eight passes for 106 yards with one TD, obviously was not punished in any way and that confirms the idea that the argument between the teammates was not at the root of why Davis was left behind in South Florida.

Marshall was asked about the incident after the game and did not deny the confrontation.

“Yeah, one of the reasons why we’re standing here with a W is because the guys in our locker room, we hold each other accountable," Marshall said. "Vontae is a special player. He’s one of the best players on our team. We look forward to getting Vontae back hopefully next week. We hold each other accountable and that’s why we’re a special group. Record doesn’t show it but hopefully next week we can put another win back  to back.."

It is unclear if the Dolphins must report Davis to the NFL either under the personal conduct policy or under the controlled substance and sobriety program. It is also not known if this was a one-time incident or a problem Davis has had previously.